Birdline Australian Capital Territory Weekly Update

Birdline Australian Capital Territory

Published sightings for the week ending 7 Apr 2013.

Sun 7 Apr	Pink-eared Duck West Belconnen ponds Sunny afternoon with storms to the west. Had rained the night before so ponds were at capacity. Pink-eared Duck (1) At the northern end with some Grey Teal Michael Kingsford
Sun 7 Apr	Yellow Thornbill Stromlo Forest Park Yellow Thornbill (2) in a mixed flock with yellow-rumped and striated thornbills. Very yellow birds (throat, chest, flanks and undertail coverts), unstreaked and with a typical black thornbill beak. Mark behind the eye similar to that of a striated but without a white eyebrow. Primaries quite dark creating a greater contrast with tertial and greater coverts than on other thornbill species. With Jono Henshaw. Vivien Rolland
Sun 7 Apr	Crescent Honeyeater Callum Brae Nature Reserve Crescent Honeyeater (1) male. Dark grey honeyeater with obvious yellow patch on primaries and dark wishbone extending on whitish chest. Medium sized and slightly curved beak. No obvious white patch on head but seemed to have a very thin white line behind the eye. I could not see the tail before the bird took off and flew far beyond the boundaries of Callum brae. I was a bit surprised to observe it at Callum Brae. Vivien Rolland
Sun 7 Apr	Pied Butcherbird Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve This morning on the northern side of Mulligan's Flat, I heard Pied Butcherbird calling. Following the sound I found 2 adult Pied Butcherbirds that immediately departed the scene in an eastward direction towards the Pipeline Rd. PJ Milburn
	Gilbert's Whistler Mulligan's Flat Nature Reserve This morning, along the northern boundary track of Mulligan's Flat Nature Reserve between the pine windbreak and the Pipeline Road a distinctive female Whistler of unfamiliar appearance was encountered. My first impression was that it might be an Olive Whistler but the back and wings were clearly grey. I had seen maybe a dozen (brown plumage) Golden Whistlers during the morning and even more Rufous Whistlers so I had fresh images of these in mind. To my eye the bird was on the large side for Golden Whistler and small for Olive Whistler. The bill was black and appeared quite stout. I proposed that it was a female Gilbert's Whistler. The bird was in view for several minutes and I paid particular attention to the vent to see if it had the typical yellow spot on the cloaca of Golden Whistler. No yellow was seen. [Moderator's comment: This extraordinary record would require rarities committee appraisal before it could be accepted into the Eremaea atlas, but is published for information only at this stage, noting the observer's considerable experience and expertise.] PJ Milburn
Fri 5 Apr	Red-kneed Dotterel Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve Cool day (14 - 17 degrees C) with sun shine increasing as the day progressed. Little or no breeze Red-kneed Dotterel (1) At muddy edge of small dam near the main visitor centre at about 9.30 am. Was being harrassed by a pair of Masked Lapwings which chased it repeatedly. First recording of this species at this site Kim and Geoff Larmour
Fri 5 Apr	Swamp Harrier Kellys Swamp & Jerrabomberra Wetlands, Fyshwick Swamp Harrier (1): flew across road on approach to parking area; pale rump noticed. [Moderator's note: first report of this species for a couple of months.] Niel Bruce
Thu 4 Apr	Rufous Fantail Araba St Aranda, ACT Mary Gorman and I watched a Rufous Fantail for about 5 minutes around 08:45. It was mainly close to the ground and in a mixed feeding flock that also included Superb Fairy Wren, Spotted Pardalotte and White-browed Scrubwren. Rick Kuhn
Mon 1 Apr	Pink Robin Blundells Creek and Warks Roads Pink Robin (1) female. Very dark female robin. Unstreaked dark brown back and wings with broken rich-tan wing mark. Brownish-buff breast. No apparent white on tail when on the ground. Unfortunately, I did not see the bird take off and could not relocate it after my initial observation. With Daniel Stanton. Vivien Rolland

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